A conventional camera control device for controlling the operation of a television camera is provided so that the video of the television camera is controlled from a remote location. As image sensors for television cameras and the high-speed signal processing technology progress, high quality standards such as for 1080p that handles a frame video of 1920 samples by 1080 lines in progressive scanning have arisen. Meanwhile, it is also required to output the 1080i signal, the SDTV (standard definition television) signal and the like at the same time according to the conventional standard. Therefore, video processing devices for converting the inputted video signal into a number of video formats through a format converting circuit for output have been provided in camera control devices.
It is common to provide an output (output of a PIX signal) where character information such as for a menu screen (data for a monitor) has been superposed on the video signal for a picture monitor separately from a main line video signal to be provided for broadcasting in order for an operator or engineer within the broadcasting station to set the camera's video quality while viewing the video. As described above, however, a character signal generator for generating a character signal that fits each video format becomes necessary when the number of types of videos to be handled is great, which leads to an increase in the cost and scale of the circuit.
FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of a video processing device according to a conventional system. Here, video signals inputted from the television camera to the camera control device are 1080p (1920×1080, progressive) while output video signals are 720p (1280×720, progressive), 1080i (1920×1080, interlace), and SD (720×480, interlace) in addition to 1080p.
In the video processing device, a character signal for 1080p that has been generated in the character generator 32 for 1080p is superposed on the video signal of 1080p that has been inputted from the television camera in the character superposing unit 31 so that a PIX signal of the 1080p format is generated for output. In addition, a character signal for 720p that has been generated in the character generator 35 for 720p is superposed on the video signal that has been format converted from 1080p to 720p in the 720p down convertor unit 33 in the character superposing unit 34 so that a PIX signal of the 720p format is generated for output. Moreover, a character signal for 1080i that has been generated in the character generator 38 for 1080i is superposed on the video signal that has been format converted from 1080p to 1080i in the 1080i down convertor unit 36 in the character superposing unit 37 so that a PIX signal of the 1080i format is generated for output. Furthermore, a character signal for SD that has been generated in the character generator 41 for SD is superposed on the video signal that has been format converted from 1080i to an SDTV signal in the SD down convertor unit 39 in the character superposing unit 40 so that a PIX signal of the SD format is generated for output. As described above, the video processing device according to the conventional system requires the same number of character generators as the number of video formats for the PIX signal outputs.